Broadband ISPs FAQs: Ask an Expert on Broadband ISPs

Is a T1 (or Better) Connection Essential for Ecommerce?

Description: It seems as if everyone is jumping online nowadays to sell one thing or another. But if you are a business you will surely need a more reliable internet connection than if you were just going online to read your emails.

Virtually every website you visit that is offering you a T1 line for your business internet connection will tell you that a T1 line is essential if you are running an online business.

But how true is that in reality?

Let's look at the benefits you get with a T1 internet connection. The main benefit is that it's extremely reliable - more so than other more basic internet connections. You will also get a dedicated service and generally a lot more in the way of back up than the kind of internet connection you use at home. The service is guaranteed to be up for the vast majority of the time, and even if it does go down it is back up and running in double quick time.

The providers of T1 connections know that they are used by many businesses and they charge a premium rate for them, so they have to offer a service which is second to none.

With that said however, it is not absolutely necessary that you have a T1 connection for your ecommerce business; it really all depends on how new your business is, whether or not you can afford to have a T1 connection from a budgetary point of view, and perhaps most importantly how much traffic and how many orders you are taking via your website.

While the cost of a T1 line is infinitely more expensive than a regular line, you are paying for support and reliability. How many customers will you lose if they cannot complete their orders due to your website continually being unavailable?

While it is not essential to have a T1 - or better - connection for an ecommerce business, it is highly advisable, and if you want to take your business as far as it will go then having it really does become non-negotiable.